Fall 2019 CHIP Courses

CHC CHIP Course Descriptions – Fall 2019

Eugene is much more than just a college town and service is more than just volunteering, it is allyship, advocacy and education. This CHIP section is designed to inform incoming CHC students about their new home: from finding the best places to eat, relax, and explore on and off campus, to discovering which communities are under-served, and how we might make a difference. We will explore a range of hands-on opportunities to serve both the University and the greater Eugene community and students will become equipped with essential resources that serve themselves and others. Please note that in this CHIP we will discuss challenging topics such as homelessness, mental health, and substance abuse.

In this CHIP section, we will explore the many volunteer and activist opportunities on the UO campus and in the city of Eugene. The goal of our discussion-based class sessions will be to consider – individually and collectively - the role of community in our lives and to articulate what meaningful involvement looks like for each of us. We will also explore student’s personal interests in the area of community service and we will create group and individual projects based on these interests. The opportunity for engagement in volunteer or activist work is a significant part of this CHIP and we will look for a variety of creative ways to get involved and help our communities!

In this CHIP, we will look at the ways in which social attitudes have shaped media representations of gender, sexuality, and sex, and how these representations impact our own lives. We will discuss the tools and vocabulary necessary to recognize and examine the complex ways identities are depicted in various forms of mass media. The texts we will analyze include film, television, social media, and more. Students will actively shape the content of the course by providing a text of their choosing and giving a brief presentation of their analysis. The purpose of this CHIP is to think about media representations in ways that build a better understanding of ourselves, and our perceptions of others while creating community within the Clark Honors College.

Student Leader: Mohini Bryant-Ekstrand

Faculty Advisor: Angela Rovak

CRN 12736, Thursdays, 1200-1250, 330 CON

HEALTH & THE HUMAN BODY

Health is a crucial part of our lives and in this CHIP section, we will explore the ways in which physical health not only impacts the human body but can also impact our ability to thrive as students. We will research current trends in the health advice we encounter on the Internet and we will discuss the facts and the fictions that often make up such advice. We will also make smoothies, go on a hike, and we will even try out a group Zumba class! Our discussion sessions will address different ways to follow a healthy lifestyle while adjusting to college life: this could range from setting an effective sleep schedule to preparing for the challenges of midterms and finals. This CHIP section will also familiarize students with the many available resources within the Clark Honors College, on the University of Oregon campus, and in the Eugene area.

The Bad News: the environment is facing unprecedented levels of damage and decay. The Good News: we can do something to help; in fact, we can do a lot to help. This CHIP section will explore the ways in which we are able take matters into our own hands in order to make a difference – locally and globally. In addition to the metal straw that may be tucked away in your back pocket, we will dive into other nifty tips and tricks we could add to our tool boxes for slowing the environmental decay of our planet. How can we greenify our lives? How can we help to greenify the University of Oregon? What can we do to reverse what some see as irreversible? This CHIP is not here to bum you out or to enforce veganism onto you and your loved ones! Instead, we will work on ways to educate ourselves by sharing and inspiring fresh methods of considering environmentalism in our daily lives – not just on campus, but anywhere and everywhere we go.

In this CHIP section, we will explore art through a range of different time periods. We believe that the experience of viewing and discussing art provides an effective and enjoyable platform for individuals to connect with each other, and our CHIP sessions will encourage everyone to introduce and explore a range of art styles that they are most interested. We will provide opportunities to share knowledge and opinions about our experiences of different art forms, genres, and practices. During the term, we will visit the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, where students will be able to explore the vast collection of art housed on our campus. This CHIP section will also introduce students to a variety of on-campus resources and will offer guidance for students to navigate their first year in the Clark Honors College and the University of Oregon.

Health encompasses all aspects of life, ranging from physical exercise to dedicated time for self-reflection and growth. Working to balance the entire wheel of physical, mental, and emotional health is a crucial part of college life. This CHIP is designed to allow students to explore a variety of physical activities while learning about the importance of well-rounded health. We will be spending half our time in a classroom setting and half outside, in a gym, a studio, or anywhere we can get a sweat on and have some fun! Students will be playing sports and activities in a variety of settings including: the Student Recreation Center (the REC), Hendrick’s Park, and Gerlinger Annex. Discussions will focus on approaches to nutrition, sports history at the UO and beyond, sports stereotypes, and mental illness education. Class sessions will be held in a traditional classroom setting on odd numbered weeks. Any readings or videos will all be relatively small and accessible for students online. While the class content will be centered around health, fitness, and well-being, the main goal is to create a safe learning environment where students are able to develop friendships and connections within the Clark Honors College community. Whether you are a huge fan of sports or want to learn more, this is the CHIP for you!

In this CHIP section, we will explore our personal and cultural relationships to the natural world. Throughout the term, we will reflect together on the representation of nature in our cultures and histories, as well as in our own lived experience. We will engage with the work of authors such as John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, and Mary Oliver, and we will explore the natural landscape here in Eugene – individually or collaboratively. We will also take the opportunity to represent the natural world through creative practices such as collage, journals, photography, and other forms that students may propose. This CHIP is designed to be a collaborative and creative celebration of the beauty and wonder of nature as well as an exploration of how humans have valued or de-valued the natural world.

What do Bobby Kennedy, Malcolm X, Indira Ghandi, and Yitzhak Rabin all have in common? They were major world leaders killed in the prime of their political leadership. What were the conditions that seemingly drove individuals to these politically-motivated crimes? What effects did these events have on the world? Do we really, always know the facts of the case? In this CHIP section, we will explore some of history’s most famous assassinations and the legacy they have left for us today. Whether you love history, philosophy, psychology, politics, economics, or even true crime, get ready to dive deep into stories that are often too crazy to be fiction. Together, we will engage in discussions about some of the most interesting and important events in history. In addition, we will use our CHIP sessions to discover more about the University of Oregon, the Clark Honors College, and the amazing resources available on our campus!

This CHIP, the Contemporary Arab World, centers on the Arab world presented in the realms of literature, poetry, film, and art. This class strays away from the political aspects of the Middle East to focus on a more humanitarian, artistic, and compassionate perspective. Arab countries are rich with diversity in art, literature, and narratives. Our exploration of the contemporary Arab world will hopefully, stem into a reflection on identity and cross-cultural representation. Through the exploration of the modern Arab identity, we will reflect on our own culture and experiences. There is no need to have any background knowledge of the Arab world or the Middle East to take this course!

Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé: what do all of these artists have in common? A concept album. In this CHIP section we will study – and enjoy - some historic concept albums, engaging with them as we would literary texts. Concept albums can be defined as albums which host a collection of tracks that are tied together by a common theme— sometimes instrumental, lyrical, or led by an overarching narrative or source of inspiration. In the design of a concept album, individual tracks are usually intended to be heard in the order in which they are listed on the album, as most artists strategically use this art form to tell an organized story. During the term, we will examine albums such as Lemonade, The Wall, and American Idiot, among others. Students are also encouraged to bring their own ideas to the group for concept albums we could experience and discuss. Our goal will be to study this music as legitimate “literature”, identifying the themes that unite the tracks on a given album, and asking ourselves if and how this union is achieved effectively. Of course, we will also be enjoying some pretty impressive artistry and getting to know one another’s musical preferences along the way. If you are a fan of music, literature, or icons of popular culture, this is the CHIP for you!

From inside prison walls, people have recorded with pen, pencil, and cellphone the details of their experiences, their philosophies, and their creative expression. Prison literature is defined as poetry, letters, articles, or novels authored by a person while incarcerated. In this CHIP section, we will read literature spanning time periods and continents: from a gay inmate in an Oregon prison in the 1970s to a Kurdish journalist currently detained on Manus Island. These authors have explored the intricacies of democracy, activism, race, friendship, justice, and spirituality, from the confines of their prison walls. In our discussion sessions, we will ask: What can we learn from writing colored by the experience of incarceration? How do these authors reflect upon and cope with the conditions of their incarceration? In this CHIP section, we will aim to broaden our understanding of prison history, and how it might relate to the phenomenon of prison today. We will also spend time building our community of CHC peers and scholars!

Behavioral Economics, as a relatively new field of study, has been met with great excitement for its insights into human decision-making. Behavioral Economics aims to understand the “why” and “how” behind the choices that individuals make. In this CHIP section, through our exploration of housing policy, immigration, mass incarceration, and education, we will discuss and demonstrate the broader implications that behavioral economics has in understanding and shaping the social structures that define our everyday lives. As an introduction to the Clark Honors College, this Decisions, Decisions CHIP will connect students to the UO library system, CHCSA, and the Economics Department, with the ultimate objective of familiarizing first-year students with the University of Oregon and Eugene as a whole.

Nothing unites people the way food can. From our individual nostalgia for certain foods of our past to our experience of sharing holiday meals discussing controversial topics with family members, food has the ability to connect us with people, places, and memories in meaningful ways. Eating is something we often look forward to; at a fundamental and practical level it allows to exist and to live healthily, but its availability is also something we may take for granted. In this CHIP section, through this framework of our experience and appreciation of food, we will discuss the successes and failures of the major food production industries, as well as food accessibility and security as a growing human rights issue. We will consider the ways in which our individual decisions about food habits could impact the lives of many others. Through our discussion sessions and field trips, we will explore the amazing resources and opportunities that exist on campus, in Eugene, and throughout Lane County, that promote inclusivity around food access and that are trying to combat hunger. By incorporating our collective interests and knowledge of science, literature, policy, news media - and food itself! we will learn how food is utilized not just in our bodies but in our societies, on a local and global scale.

Can all those ____________s you insisted on having/wished you had as a _______ be meaningful in an institutional context? Do others collect or study them? This CHIP section is an experimental course that explores our impulses to collect and archive. We will encourage students to think broadly about what it means when we choose to preserve things, why we choose the things we choose to preserve, and how the structure of a collection might be approached in the contemporary moment. The CHIP sessions will be a combination of field-trip experiences and discussions of selected short readings. As a group, we will visit and explore various locations that have interests in collecting and archiving on campus and in Eugene. Students will have the opportunity in their final projects to begin and share an archive in an institutional setting: this could be of images, texts, or objects, within any discipline.

In this CHIP section, we will analyze how basketball has changed stylistically and culturally as a result of increased accessibility of information. Since the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1990, technology has advanced rapidly, and basketball has advanced just as rapidly as a result. The game has changed stylistically with increased emphasis on analytics and a growing role of athletes in popular culture. Together, we will explore this analytics revolution and the creation of the modern “interactive” athlete, both of which have been ushered in by increased access to information in the Internet age. By developing deeper analytical and sociocultural understandings of the relationship between sports, exchange of information, and broader society, students will have the opportunity to elevate informal conversation into sustained academic discourse.

When the United States of America incarcerates the highest number of people per capita in the world, the title of mass incarceration seems warranted. How do we talk about the ethics of mass incarceration in America? Is there only one perspective? In this CHIP section, we will discuss those questions by examining the perspectives of a multiplicity of writers and speakers engaged with the criminal justice system. Students will engage with a variety of texts, podcasts, and video clips, including works from Michelle Alexander, Angela Davis, and Bryan Stevenson. Additionally, this CHIP includes a tour of Lane County Jail in Eugene and a tour of Oregon State Penitentiary, a maximum security prison in Salem. This CHIP will provide a space for students to learn more about issues of incarceration, while also forming a community of students who support and encourage each other.

PLEASE NOTE: The two tours require that students pass a background check and have a valid social security number. If you think this might constitute a barrier for you, please contact one of the CHIP leaders or the CHC faculty advisor before registering for this CHIP.

Our environment affects everything we do in the world we are living in. Climate change does not discriminate; it is a global phenomenon. No matter where we come from or where we are going, it is important to have knowledge of what is going on in the world around us and how we, as consumers, can play a part in changing it. Through the act of living sustainably, we can fulfill our role in creating the change we wish to see in the world. In this CHIP section, we will explore our own roles, as well as the role of policy, in living sustainably through many lenses: energy, transportation, food, waste, agriculture, water, and fashion. We will also engage in some active exercises that will help us shape our sense of the environment and our own agency, taking field trips to locations like the Student Sustainability Center on campus, the Eugene Farmer’s Market, the Urban Farm, and Food for Lane County’s Grassroots Garden.

It may be that Generation Z – or what has also been called the Post-Millennial generation or iGen - has the power to change the world. With every new generation come new trends and in this case Gen Z has often been characterized by the increased use of social media, comfort with technology and an online presence, adventurous travel, shifting consumer tastes, and cultural experiences informed by a “fear of missing out”. In this CHIP section, we will discuss, analyze, and maybe even challenge the identifiers of Generation Z. Are we more or less resilient than previous generations of young adults? Are we more or less risk-averse? Are we attuned to the conditions of speed and mobility in our culture or more inclined to be part of the slow movement? Are we really reliant on digital technologies or more aware than ever of their consequences? What are the politics of Gen Z? What are our employment prospects? Using these questions as a guide – and generating more discussion topics as a group, we will create a community through this CHIP, while getting acclimated to the CHC and the UO.

Student Leader: Aeron Lerch

Faculty Advisor: TBA

CRN 12728, Mondays, 1800-1850, 103 GSH

WORLDBUILDING: REALITY & FICTION

In this CHIP section, we will explore the creation of worlds and their systems and structures, with particular emphasis placed on impact and change. How can we influence the world around us? What is changeable in the world? How can worlds be constructed in ways that connect critical thinking and creative thinking? These are just a few of the guiding questions for our discussions and we will be addressing topics such as: power structures; discrimination, stereotypes, and erasure; urban spaces; magical and non-magical creatures; and environmental, magic, energy, and transportation systems. As we have no hope of exploring the complete vastness of worlds, students in this CHIP are welcome to play an active role in shaping the content of the course based on their interests. For a final project, students will select an aspect of worldbuilding and connect it to a part of a world, real or fictional, and create a case for change.

UO
prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, age,
religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity,
and gender expression in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by
Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by
UO policy. Questions may be referred to the
Title IX Coordinator, Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance, or to the Office
for Civil Rights. Contact information, related policies, and complaint procedures are listed
on the
statement of non-discrimination.